The applicant proposes to extend and develop her current program of epidemiologic research by examining geographic variation in rates of in psychiatric disorders in child and adult populations in contrasting settings (rural, small town, and urban). Two complementary studies are described in the application: (1) a rural-urban study of child psychiatric disorders, utilizing data of the applicant's recently completed urban survey in conjunction with a proposed child survey in a rural-small town administrative health region of Connecticut; and (2) analysis of rural-urban differences in adult anxiety and depression, employing the extant databases of the Stirling County study and the urban replication survey used for her thesis work, the Queensbrook study. As in prior research, efforts to quantify population rates of disorders and their socio-environmental correlates will be wedded with essential methodological work in psychiatric assessment, and will have direct public health applications in service planning.
